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Aston Martin Red Bull Racing revealed on Wednesday its new Honda-powered 2019 Formula 1 car, the RB15.
The car bears a heavily polygonal livery, similar in design to pre-war “dazzle” naval camouflage. Like the RB14, this livery will adorn the RB15 only during winter testing; Red Bull will likely continue to use its traditional purple-and-gold design for the race season itself.
A key design element to the RB15 is its new Honda engine, identical to that used in this year’s Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda STR14. Despite developing a reputation for unreliability and poor power output, STR trialed Honda’s engine for its RBR sister team in 2018 and left an impression positive enough for RBR to adopt the engine as well. Offseason rumors allege that Honda’s engine power now approaches that of Mercedes-AMG and Ferrari, though no engine supplier is willing to disclose its official power output.
Driving the RB15 in 2019 will be multiple Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen and promoted STR driver Pierre Gasly, who fills the hole left by Daniel Ricciardo after his exodus to Renault. Gasly will hope to challenge Verstappen for the status of de facto number one driver, and he’ll have to perform if he wants to keep his RBR drive. STR drivers Alexander Albon and a reinvigorated Daniil Kvyat are both aiming to steal the car out from under Gasly, and RBR has shown in its past that it is not averse to showing a driver the door midseason.
The RB15 was first seen on track at a promotional filming day on Wednesday, and will next be seen during winter testing at Circuit de Catalunya, site of the Spanish Grand Prix.
